Trump walks out on signing ceremony without actually signing order

President Donald Trump forgot to sign a pair of executive orders during an Oval Office appearance Friday focused on reducing the trade deficit just days before he holds his first meeting with his Chinese counterpart. (March 31)
AP

President Trump walked out on his own Oval Office signing ceremony without actually signing his two executive orders on trade.

Trump's abrupt departure from Friday's ceremony came after a reporter shouted questions about the president's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who has offered to testify before Congress on Russian involvement in the U.S. election in return for immunity from prosecution.

Flynn resigned from the job in February amid revelations he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Vice President Mike Pence, left, tries to stop President Donald Trump as he leaves before signing executive orders regarding trade in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, on March 31, 2017.(Photo: Andrew Harnik, AP)

Reporters reacted with surprise when Trump left the room without signing his orders. Brian Teff of ABC Action News in Philadelphia called it "a hugely awkward moment."

This hugely awkward moment lays bare the tension within the WH. Refusing to answer question, Pres Trump walks out of Oval, before signing EO pic.twitter.com/GVFHZSRDmx